Housekeeping with iTunes

[Ambrosia7177]

Hello everyone.

Sadly, this week I completely filled up the 1 TB drive on my Retina MBP.

And strangely, even after I deleted a few GB of data, I got a macOS Sierra pop-up last night telling me my HDD was almost full again, and it was trying to show me places where I could regain space.

One thing that shocked me was that apparently I have 15GB in iTunes, even though I don't download music from Apple.

(All of the music on my MBP is from Internet radio that I have recorded using Audacity.)


Some questions...

1.) Why is iTunes apparently making copies of all of my music that I recorded in Audacity?


2.) I tried deleting music from iTunes last night using that popup wizard, but was afraid that I would delete my *original* MP3's.

How can I delete all of the duplicates that iTunes is creating and NOT destroy my master copies?


3.) How can I prevent iTunes from making duplicates of MP3's when I choose to listen to them in iTunes? (That is the stupidest design I have ever seen?! Your browser doesn't download an entires webpage/video when you bookmark things, right?!)


Thanks!

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Is Audacity set to export to iTunes? It sounds like Copy files to iTunes is checked off in the iTunes Advanced Prefs.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Is Audacity set to export to iTunes? It sounds like Copy files to iTunes is checked off in the iTunes Advanced Prefs.

@Mr_Brightside_@,

Hello.

Here is my workflow...

I am a radio nut, and get all of my music from Internet radio stations. (Most of my "music" collection is recorded radio shows like "American Top 40 - The 80s" or just Internet radio station "streams".)

Ironically, I am so busy recording stuff, I never seem to actually listen to what I record, except in the background as I record it.

So every now and then, I will actually open up one of my home-made files - previously recorded using Audacity - and on my Retina I guess the default audio player is iTunes. (On this old Mac, I think I have VLC as the default player.)

Apparently every time I am opening up one of the MP#'s that I made in Audacity, iTunes is sucking it into some "library", which isn't so bad, but also apparently iTunes is copying the *entire* file into some other directory structure that iTunes uses for user playlists/libraries?

Again, this seems like an asinine design, as all iTunes needs to save is a pointer to the original files?!

Well, IF iTunes is indeed making literal copies of files everytime I open them, that that is a disaster, because a 4-hour radio show could be 300-400MB alone.

My goals are...

1.) Delete any duplicate files that iTunes might be creating

2.) Be damn sure I am not deleting the original files when cleaning up iTunes in #1

3.) Ideally prevent iTnes from being dumb and making duplicate files.

Does that make sense?

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Check the setting:

iTunes > Preferences > Advanced tab > "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" (checkbox)

It sounds like this box should be unchecked for you. I'm the opposite. I want iTunes to put everything in its special folder.

Not sure about removing dupes.

Try the iTunes support pages on Apple's website. iTunes is a very old macOS application, I'm sure you aren't the first person who has encountered this problem.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Use GrandPerspective to scan your home folder, you will likely see duplicated squares of everything that's been added to iTunes. If you want the iTunes space freed with no chance of deleting files, just move the library to an external drive.

Move your iTunes library to another computer

On your Mac, use the iTunes backup feature to move your library to a new computer.

support.apple.com

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Use GrandPerspective to scan your home folder, you will likely see duplicated squares of everything that's been added to iTunes. If you want the iTunes space freed with no chance of deleting files, just move the library to an external drive.

Move your iTunes library to another computer

On your Mac, use the iTunes backup feature to move your library to a new computer.

support.apple.com

@Mr_Brightside_@,

Thanks for the link, but I think you're giving me backwards advice!

I'm an old-timer, and have no need for iTunes (or any other music player) trying to be "helpful" and organizing my music. (I use my own filing heirarchy in Finder.)

So, to be clear...

I want to delete any file copies of music, and honestly, any other metadata or whatever that is burning up precious disk space, but I do not want iTunes going out and deleting my original music copies in MY OWN FOLDERS.

Put another way, I had my own elaborate directory structure with my original MP3 files, and apparently every time I go to those folders and play an MP3, iTunes is making a copy of that original and storing it in the iTunes Library.

However, if I delete the iTnes Library, I do not want to *assume* that iTuens won't also delete my original copies that are NOT in the iTunes directory structure.

Make sense?

So how can I delete 15GB of iTunes crap and leave my orginal directory structure 9and precious music) - which is outside of iTunes - untouched??

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Read this post twice before responding.

iTunes won't delete anything outside of ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/ (ie, very likely where all your Audacity originals live) unless the originals were added to iTunes at a time when 'Copy to iTunes' was disabled.

It's possible, but not likely, that this happened at some point.

The GP step of my post was to try to determine if some, or all, of your recordings are duplicated within the iTunes library. You can see this easily in GP by hovering over the file's 'square' and viewing its file path at the bottom of the window. If you are satisfied that all the recordings are DUPLICATED in the iTunes folder, and it doesn't include any originals (again, possible but unlikely) then just delete the folder. If you're worried or not sure, then move the iTunes folder to an external drive, saving you the 15 GB immediately. If you find you're missing a file in the future, it will likely reside in the iTunes folder.

I have never used a duplicate file finder for the Finder in the past, and don't have one to recommend.
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I'm going to try to give you a few example cases you might experience:

1. iTunes has always had the Copy to iTunes option checked.
1a. Everything in the iTunes media folder will be a duplicate of something in your Audacity folder. However, the Audacity folder will almost certainly have more files than the iTunes folder. That would make sense, as it sounds like you've only ever opened some of them in iTunes (and therefore copied them).
1b. Therefore, it is safe to DELETE the iTunes Media folder.

2. iTunes has not always had the Copy to iTunes option checked.
2a. iTunes may be referencing files in your hierarchy, ie, outside of iTunes Media, that were not copied to its library.
2b. Unless you delete the files from WITHIN iTunes, your hierarchy SHOULD be unaffected if you move or delete the iTunes Media folder (but better to move it than delete it).

3. You have used iTunes as a media player for songs, videos, etc.
3a. Moving or deleting the iTunes media folder will mean these items will be 'gone' unless the iTunes media folder is re-opened.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Read this post twice before responding.

iTunes won't delete anything outside of ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/

You are 100% certain of that?

If so, then it's easy because I have my own filing structure on my MBP.

The only way songs would end up in iTunes is if iTunes scarfed them up from my originals.

When I go to: user1 > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media I see tons of music shows/songs, but the filenames do not match my very unque naming convention. (It looks like the iTunes filenames were build off of the metadata that I created in Audacity.)

Furthermore, I have like 1/2 terabyte of radio shows/music on my Retina, so 15GB is a tiny percentage of my entire collection. (This also proves the fact that I spend 95% of my time recording music and 5% of my time listening to what I record!!)

So it looks like iTunes just make physical copies or the originals each time I double-clicked on an MP3 file in Fidner to listen to it (or to verify that the file I rendered in Audacity was okay.)

Agree?

Fwiw, I have a CCC clone from April 3, but my larger fear is that backup clone will eventually get written over with a newer clone, and 3 years from now I will realize that iTunes deleted things it shouldn't have.

Then again, you explicitly said...

iTunes won't delete anything outside of ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/

...so I guess I can just delete the /iTunes/iTunes Music/ directory and uncheck:

iTunes > Preferences > Advanced tab > Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library (checkbox)


Does that sound reasonable?

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Dude, you didn't read my post. You are literally quoting the first half of an UNLESS sentence and acting like it's all I wrote. Don't bother responding to me if you can't be bothered to read what I spent time on my Sunday afternoon writing.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Dude, you didn't read my post. You are literally quoting the first half of an UNLESS sentence and acting like it's all I wrote. Don't bother responding to me if you can't be bothered to read what I spent time on my Sunday afternoon writing.

Why are you being so cranky?

I did read what you said twice. And I quoted what I thought was relevant from your post to clarify what you said...

And if you read what I said, then you will see that I am agreeing/confirming what you said to me - that I should be okay because I did NOT ever add anything to iTunes manually on my own.

So we have "violent agreement"

Don't get angry just because I am being nervous and asking twice before I make a cut?!

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Delete the /iTunes/iTunes Music/ directory and uncheck iTunes > Preferences > Advanced tab > Copy files to iTunes Media folder.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

@Mr_Brightside_@ is "cloudy" today...

So I just did an actual test to re-verify the advice given above...

- First, I created an audio file in Audacity called "TEST_2020-04-05.mp3" with no metadata.
- I rendered the file.
- It appeared in my "STAGING" folder as expected.
- I double-clicked on it and opened it up.
- It played in iTunes and iTunes made a copy of my original file and saved it in /iTunes/iTunes Media/
- I deleted "TEST_2020-04-05.mp3" from iTunes.
- The file in the iTunes directory disappeard.
- My original "TEST_2020-04-05.mp3" still exists in "STAGING".

- Then I ran a similar test but with metadata, and while "TEST_2020-04-05b.mp3" was now filed in iTunes as "zArtist" everything else played out the same.

So based on @Erehy Dobon's and @Mr_Brightside_@'s advice, and my own testing, I guess I can delete the /iTunes/iTunes Music/ directory (and uncheck iTunes > Preferences > Advanced tab > Copy files to iTunes Media folder) and I should be good.

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Make a backup first...

By the way, I'm an old fogey and I'm okay with letting iTunes manage the directory hierarchy. One thing for sure, if I backup the directory ~/Music/iTunes I know I captured all of my media. I don't have to remember the sprawling locations where I might have stuck things. It's helpful for old farts like me who have better things to do with my time than try to remember every single last corner of my various disk drives.

Alas, I wish that I had done this with my photos as well using Photos (formerly iPhoto). I created my own photo storage hierarchy and now it is very difficult to find things. The older shots have no geolocation data or tags.

Best of luck.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

@Erehy Dobon,

I'm an old fart too, but I don't want anyone else - including an app - trying to be "helpful" and rearranging my workshop.

That, and I am very set in working with physical files with self-documenting verbose names.

This approach has served me well for over 30 years.

I still lose lots of things - mainly articles - but even an app wouldn't help too much with that.

It's hard to find stuff when you forgot that you have it?!

Also, as mentioned above, thanks to many smart people on macRumors, I learned to embrace Carbon Copy Cloner many years ago, and it is a life-saver!!

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Do you ever use Google? That's something that tries to help you out.

Hell, I have a fairly simple filing system for my old e-mails but I'm not above using the search function to find things quickly. I have better things to do with my time than re-invent the wheel.

RTFM, STFW. Do those acronyms ring a bell?

Do you even use search at all? My gut tells me you do not.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Do you ever use Google? That's something that tries to help you out.

Another evil source, but yes.

Hell, I have a fairly simple filing system for my old e-mails but I'm not above using the search function to find things quickly. I have better things to do with my time than re-invent the wheel.

Maybe I am missing out, but I feel that my system works for me, although I'm always open to learning.

As far as emails go, I never get personal emails, so problem solved.

And at work, I try to handle and then delete emails as fast as possible.

I am sure that I could become a more advanced email using learning to use filters and searching, but my goal with email is to keep my Inbox as empty as possible.

RTFM, STFW. Do those acronyms ring a bell?

I had to search for "STFW" to figure out what that meant!

Do you even use search at all? My gut tells me you do not.

I spend all day surfing - and thus searching - the Internet.

Search for things on my Macs? Rarely.

On this old Mac I do search every Friday to see if I already have a copy of the upcoming AT40 show - but then that is simply because I need to redo my file naming convention, because once I do then I won't have to search for the files on my HDD.

On my Retina, I turned off Spotlight because I read that in the past Apple was taking search results from Spotlight and using them which freaked me out.

That is a PITA I haven't figured out since I can no longer search on my Retina. I think the solution I decided on was to use Path Finder, but I haven't had the time or $$ to buy and install it on my Retina.

In general, I don't search for anything on my computer, because I know where most things are at.

(I have an *insane* amount of data on my Macs, but I am also very organized, so instead of doing wildcard searches I simply walk over to the isle neded and go to the right position on the shelf, and pick out what I need just like a librarian would do with the help of the Dewy Decimal System. Apparently most people don't take things as seriously as I do...)

 

[Erehy Dobon]

I spend all day surfing - and thus searching - the Internet.

I do not.

(I have an *insane* amount of data on my Macs, but I am also very organized, so instead of doing wildcard searches I simply walk over to the isle neded and go to the right position on the shelf, and pick out what I need just like a librarian would do with the help of the Dewy Decimal System. Apparently most people don't take things as seriously as I do...)

Maybe it's time for your to brush up on your perl/regex/sed/awk commands.

Note that using something like iTunes can help with search. I can create a Smart Playlist with the following parameters:

• Genre: Classical, Opera, or Chorale (the latter is my own genre)
• Grouping: contains violin (I use this category as a tag field)
• Play Count: 0 (zero)
• Limit to 20 items Least Recently Added

Now I have a 20 song playlist of classical violin music that I haven't listened to, starting from the stuff I added from the beginning. Once I play a song, it drops off the list. Go ahead and try that with your customized folder hierarchy.

Or how about this?

1. Genre: Rock
2. Year is in the range 1970 to 1979

and sort by playcount.

Here's a funny one:

• Composer: contains 1685

Since I add classical composers with the dates that they were alive (per classical album listing practice), this will capture Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti and Georg Frideric Händel, all of whom were both in 1685, a damned good year for baroque music fans. Try that with your directory structure.

The Library of Congress uses a searchable electronic catalog these days, like Spotlight.

Best of luck.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

The Library of Congress uses a searchable electronic catalog these days, like Spotlight.

Something to consider.

However, the problem with being a digital packrat is that I am much more concerned with storing data than finding it!

Of course with the end of the world soon approaching, I am thinking I should start enjoying all of this stuff I have been saving?!